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Street Talk Newsletter

Street Report: Leaving Work Behind

Here's what three local officers want to share with you about making time to manage stress...

I deal with the stress of my job in a few different ways. One of the main ways is that I have trusted people I can talk to both inside and outside of law enforcement. For me, a "go to" person inside law enforcement helps because if I’m venting about something, chances are they 100% understand why I’m upset about things. Having someone outside of law enforcement helps because when I vent to that person, he/she doesn’t ask a bunch of questions. That person lets me say what I need to say, and then we drop it.

Because it helps me to not dwell on things I’m going through or what happened at work, I use my hobbies to help deal with job stress. I’m a huge book worm and love to read. When I read a book, I lose myself in the book and it takes my mind other places. Watching movies and TV shows also helps take my mind other places and get me thinking about other things than work. I love riding my bicycle. If I’m having a rough day or even just a day when I need to relax, I find music to fit my mood, pop in my earbuds, and just ride. Riding my bike and listening to music clears my head, and enables me to sweat out what is bothering me. If I’m angry I put on some upbeat music and push myself harder than normal so that I "sweat" out all that anger.

But by far the biggest help for me in dealing with the stress of work is to decline to tell stories to people when I’m off work. People always want to hear our stories about calls we have been on, and if I don’t feel like sharing anything…I don't. I let people know when I don’t want to talk about work. Separating my work and personal life has been huge. I try not to bring my work day home with me. Yes, there are days when it does happen, but that’s when I utilize my other strategies for dealing with the stress.

You’re going to run into people that don’t understand why you basically live a work life separate from a personal life. I find the easiest way to explain this is that I see enough bad things while I am at work that I don’t want to bring with me everywhere I go.

Also, I’d suggest to not let yourself constantly be surrounded by negativity. As a Police Officer, we deal with negativity 24/7, and we need to learn how to separate ourselves from that in our personal life. Unfortunately, that means you might have to separate yourself from certain people in your life. I’ve removed myself from people and situations that are just constantly negative, and have been so much happier since doing so. People who dwell on all negativity and drama are not good for a person to be around anyway, but I deal with enough negativity at work that I refuse to deal with it in my personal life. You can't escape all of it, but you can choose what and who you will and won't deal with.

There is a multitude of ways to deal with the stress that comes with being a police officer. It’s going to be different for everyone, but it’s critical to find the things in your personal life that make you happy and help you deal with what’s going on in your work life.

Don't ever be ashamed to seek help if, at home, ways are not working for you. Therapy is a huge asset we have in this world, and it needs to be utilized. We need to get away from the mindset of “if you seek therapy, it means you’re weak,” because actually…it’s the complete opposite.

PO E. Frick, North County Police Cooperative

In any profession, stress plays a factor. In our law enforcement profession, stress and trauma, including secondary trauma, wreak havoc on us daily. It feels as if we inundated with it. For me, it’s important to try and leave all that behind. I call it “me time.”

“Me time” is when I take time out just for me, and it is all about leaving work behind. I do things I truly enjoy and leave the phone at home, so I can literally just “be.” Activities I enjoy doing to leave it all behind vary, but here are a few them.

I love taking my dog for a nice walk or playing with him.

I work out - a lot. For me, running clears my head and then sometimes I just gotta lift a few weights or do some HIIT training to really push all that “stuff” out of my system.

I love getting lost in books or movies, so I spend some “me time” reading and listening to music to turn off my brain.

Sometimes “me time” is isolating myself from people, and sometimes I want to be out with my friends, so that varies.

All in all, I listen to my body and head, and they always tell me what they need.

I find that there is nothing better than a good combination of exercise and relaxation. I try to get to the gym at least three times a week. I really notice a difference in stress levels when I’m able to go four or five times. Besides the gym, I like to get out and go for a nice long mountain bike ride.

As far as relaxation, I enjoy going camping with the family. Even if it's only for a night or two, it's great to unplug and enjoy a bit of nature.

When I go too long without either of these things, I can really feel the stress start to affect my everyday life.